Tesla sales hit lowest level in three years following Elon Musk backlash

His controversial political role could have damaged the company

The electric car company delivered almost 337,000 electric vehicles in the first three months of 2025, a 13% drop from a year ago.

Shares in the company began to fall in early trading on Wednesday after the release of the low sales numbers.

Chinese firm BYD is the company's biggest competitor however, it is Musk's involvement in the Trump administration which has negatively impacted the company in this way.

The firm has blamed the sales drop on the transition to a new version of its most popular car. However, analysts have blamed the CEO.

One early Tesla investor, Ross Gerber of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management wrote on X: "These numbers suck. The brand is broken and may not be fixable."

Gerber, who was once a Musk supporter, has recently called for the board to remove the billionaire as CEO.

Protests and boycotts have been happening around the world, prompted by Musk's controversial political involvement.

He has been heading up President Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative to cut federal spending and slash the government workforce.

However, on Wednesday, Politico reported that Trump had told his inner circle that Musk would be stepping back in the coming weeks.

By law, Musk can only serve 130 days in the administration this year, which would put his departure closer to June.

The Tesla boss is the world's richest man and contributed more than a quarter of a billion dollars to help Trump get elected in November.

Tesla dealerships across the US and Europe have faced 'Tesla Takedown' protests with garages and vehicles being vandalised and defaced.

The Italian government advised police forces to increase security at Tesla dealerships after a fire at an outlet in Rome destroyed 17 cars earlier this week.

Trump has said his administration would charge people who deface Teslas with 'domestic terrorism.'

Tesla shares have lost more than a quarter of their value since the beginning of this year, as of 13:51 EDT (18:51 BST) on Wednesday.

Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said: "We are not going to look at these numbers with rose colored glasses... they were a disaster on every metric.

"The more political [Musk] gets with DOGE the more the brand suffers, there is no debate."